Saudi Arabia on Monday put to death five people convicted of carrying out a deadly attack on a house of worship, state media said, the biggest group execution this year.

The five men -- four Saudis and one Egyptian national -- were tried for an attack that killed five people and injured an untold number of others in the kingdom's east, home to most Saudi oil and most members of its Shiite minority.

An interior ministry statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency did not specify when the attack took place or what type of house of worship was targeted.

It also did not specify the method of execution used, but the kingdom has carried out beheadings in the past.

This brought to 68 the total number of people put to death so far by Saudi Arabia, a frequent target for criticism by rights groups who object to its prolific use of capital punishment.

More than 20 executions have been carried out since early May for terrorism-related offences, the vast majority in the eastern province.

In late May, authorities put to death two Bahrainis convicted of terrorism in a case.

Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 147 people in total -- more than double the 2021 figure of 69, an AFP tally showed.

The figure for 2022 included 81 people executed on a single day in March of that year for terrorism-related offences.

More than 1,000 death sentences have been implemented since King Salman assumed power in 2015, according to a report published earlier this year by Reprieve and the European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights.